


In Vestri Cutis

by Lamenta



Series: Graduum Libertatis - Appendages [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Anders may not have grasped it fully yet but Fenris really is in love - with him that is, Declarations Of Love, Fenris and Merrill have a secret, Fenris has a kink, Fenris is also being a little angsty, Fenris is being sweet, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Merrill being Merrill, Merrill is adorable, Merrill is cute but naughty on occasion, Romance, in more than one way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-04-04 06:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4128345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lamenta/pseuds/Lamenta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is, I guess, something like a "behind the scene" bit that accompanies Chapter 23 of "<a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3773212">Suscitatio</a>", where Anders receives the vallaslin from Keeper Marethari. The end scene, if slightly changed due to POV, of said chapter is incorporated.</p>
<p>According to Merrill in party banter with Fenris, the vallaslin is indeed made of blood or at least a component of the ink used for the tattoos. Well, have you wondered about the components of Anders' ink? Here's the answer!</p>
<p>Taking suggestions for these if there's anything you'd like to see or elaborated on that you thought was missing :) Just drop me a note in comments or on tumblr (lamentaslair).</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Vestri Cutis

Pointy ears pricked and listening to Hawke, Mael and Alistair discussing outside the tent, Fenris packed up what little they had brought with them to the Dalish Camp. It relaxed him, he found, after Anders had once again gone and tried to cause him grief by running off to do something decidedly stupid, on his own.

 

_Magus fatuus._

 

Fenris paused, staring at the half-packed bag, his anger vanishing in an instant. Anders had said the words. The mage had told Fenris he loved him. Fenris had been stunned, hearing those words from Anders’ lips. They had been – unexpected. It wasn’t that Fenris hadn’t hoped to hear them, one day, because he had. It had been the sincerity, the certainty with which Anders had said them, with no hesitation, that had Fenris taken aback. He wasn’t sure he deserved these words, just yet and the fact that he hadn’t said them back left him feeling even more unworthy of Anders’ declaration. Surely, the mage had expected the elf to return the sentiment, but Fenris’ had been tongue-tied, his mind coming to a stuttering halt and then he’d been focused on offering comfort to a very distressed Anders, holding the mage’s trembling body in his arms while Anders explained what had happened, to him, to Justice. Fenris wasn’t sure if the mage indeed shared the entire story, but what he’d told them had been unsettling enough. Even if Fenris had found the courage to tell Anders that he felt the same, the timing would have been most questionable.

 

With a sigh, Fenris finished packing and left the tent to join Anders in the Keeper’s. He almost walked right into Merrill, who looked up with a smile as soon as she became aware of Fenris’ presence.

  
“What?” Fenris grunted.

 

“Hm? Oh!” Merrill giggled. “Sorry, I was lost in thoughts, lethallin.” She bounced  a little. “Fenris, do you remember when I told you about the vallaslin?”

 

“The vallaslin?” Fenris frowned. “You mean the tattoos you wear.”

 

Her smile widened. “Yes.”

  
“What about them?”

 

“Well, see…Keeper Marethari is preparing the ritual to give Anders one as well.”

 

Fenris’ frown deepened. “I thought they were meant only for the Dalish?” he asked. “Why would she give one to a human?”

 

“Few have received it that are not Elven, or Dalish,” Merrill said. “It is rare and has not been done in ages, but she believes it might help protecting Anders from malevolent Fade beings. Surely, they would feel attracted to someone who is no longer really separated from them through the Veil.”

 

“That is…” Fenris paused to ponder about the possibilities. “If the mage is, in fact, no longer safely separated from the Fade, can we even say for certain that he is not already possessed again?”

 

Merrill pursed her lips. “I think you’d know.”

 

“Would I?”

 

“Well, it is just an assumption on my part, but I doubt you’d still let him sleep in your bed if he were. Abominations are not very attractive, are they?”

 

Fenris stared at Merrill.

  
“Oh! I guess you can’t really say that, because Anders was definitely attractive when he _was_ an abomination, wasn’t he? You certainly seemed to think so!”

 

“Is there a point to this conversation?” Fenris growled, his ears pinking. “Blathering witch.”

 

Merrill giggled. “You’re blushing.”

 

“I’m also leaving,” he growled and pushed past her.

  
“Oh! Oh, no wait, I do need you for something!” Merrill hurried after Fenris, who huffed in annoyance. “I need your blood.”

 

Fenris stopped dead in his tracks and spun his head around to stare at the Dalish elf. “Pardon?” he growled.

 

“Only a little!” Merrill assured.

  
“No.” Fenris was towering over her now. “My blood stays in my veins, where it belongs. I’ve shed enough of it for a blood mage!”

 

“I – oh. But we need it for the vallaslin.”

 

Fenris blinked. “What?”

 

“Remember, I told you it’s made with our blood. We don’t call it blood writing for nothing, after all.” She smiled. “Obviously, we can’t use Anders’ blood for this, since he’s not Dalish, so the Keeper will use her own to prepare the ink. I just thought you’d like to contribute some of yours as well.”

 

“And what use would my blood have?” Fenris asked. “I’m not Dalish, either.”

 

Merrill giggled and tapped her toes against the ground. “Actually, it was a romantic thought on my end.”

 

“A romantic thought?” He lifted one eyebrow. “How’s making me bleed for that ink _romantic_?”

 

“Well, maybe not that part,” she admitted. “But I thought it would be romantic, if your blood was part of the mixture. You know, it goes _into_ Anders’ skin after all. That’s like…a permanent token! Oh, oh! Or a promise, I guess.” She giggled, cheeks coloring. “Think about it…you’d be permanently _under_ _his skin_ , Fenris!”

 

Fenris’ eyes widened at Merrill when the thought caused _heat_ to shoot into his nether regions, his possessive side purring in delight. “That – that is –“ Fenris coughed awkwardly, his ears turning red.

 

Merrill laughed at her fellow elf and Fenris knew she wasn’t laughing at him, not really – more like she had known what it would do to him to hear that. Was he that obvious in his desire to claim the mage in any way possible?

 

Merrill bounced off and gestured for Fenris to follow her, still giggling at his reaction.

 

~*~

 

It shimmered golden beneath Anders’ skin and Fenris couldn’t take his eyes off the finished valasslin as he sat next to his mage. That feeling deep in chest was intense, yet Fenris was at a loss for words if he were to describe it. There was a part of him tattooed into Anders’ skin.

 

It did indeed feel like a promise. Fenris found he _wanted_ it to be a promise.

 

“Elgar’nan,” Merrill whispered. 

 

Anders let out a sad laugh at the name and Fenris frowned. “What does that mean?”

 

“The God of Vengeance,” Anders said humorlessly. “Really, you gave me a tattoo honoring the Elven God of Vengeance?”

 

“He does not only represent Vengeance, Child,” Marethari replied, her smile warm and her eyes knowing when they locked gaze with Fenris’ for a moment. “He also represents fatherhood.”

 

 “He who remade the world, according to legend,” Merrill added and Fenris thought it was perfect. Anders certainly had remade _his_ world, despite Fenris trying to fight it in the past.

 

 “Oh! Well -- I guess that’s good, yes?” Anders asked uncertainly.

 

Fenris lifted a hand, touching his fingertips to the vallaslin. Anders pulled away, giggling and Fenris smirked.

 

“Oh, I could  _not_  bear having the skin on my face touched for days after I got mine,” Merrill said with a wide smile. “It’ll get better, lethallin.”

 

_Sensitive_. Fenris touched it again and Anders laughed, batting his hand away.

  
“Maker, Fenris, don’t touch it, it tickles so bad,” he pleaded.

 

“It’s beautiful,” Fenris murmured, cupping Anders’ face in one hand. The mage twitched and took a couple deep breaths, trying not to pull away as Fenris caressed his thumb over it. “ _You_ are beautiful, Anders,” the elf added in a whisper.

 

Anders blinked at him in surprise, his sensitive skin suddenly forgotten. A faint blush crept into the mage’s cheeks and Fenris couldn’t help but smile.

 

“That…I…thank you?” The mage was flustered. It was a good look on him.

  
“It should be no surprise that I think so,” Fenris admonished playfully and leaned in for a chaste kiss. “Fool mage.”

 

Anders returned the kiss in kind, but had to pull away with a snort. “I’m sorry, Fenris, just…it tickles really, _really_ bad,” he apologized.

 

Fenris chuckled and pulled his hand away, just in time to hear Marethari bidding them farewell. His gaze met Merrill’s, who responded a beaming smile. Fenris shook his head once and she nodded in understanding.

 

Their secret would be safe until Fenris chose to tell the mage about the promise he’d made, now inked into pale, freckled skin.

 

**Author's Note:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> In Vestri Cutis - In/Under Your Skin (title)  
> Magus fatuus - Fool mage


End file.
